Monday, December 10, 2007

Across the Universe - IHOP's Lumberjack Breakfast


Chock full of classics Beatles songs as familiar as a melty butter pat, this energetic new musical is deliciously overstuffed. You've got your eggs, in fun numbers like "With A Little Help From My Friends" and "Revolution" and one hell of a closing song; You've got your pancakes, in some stunning visuals and choreography, and you've got your bacon in appealing but not quite excellent actors. But also, since this is the lumberjack special, you get waffles, sausage, hashbrowns, and a fruit cup. By the time we get through with the pancakes, we have to slog through the grits of a back to back Trip Out Fest in the form of Bono singing "I Am The Walrus" and Eddie Izzard singing "The Benefit Of Mr Kite" - who exactly was asking for that? There's way too much to be digested easily, and let's face it, a 60's Beatle musical isn't that easy to swallow to begin with. Is there too much of a good thing? Certainly, at The International House of Pancakes, and almost certainly in Across the Universe. The whole thing sags in the middle, but luckily springs back to life, thanks to the downright inspirational final song. Director Julie Taymor pours big buttery syrup all over the place, and some of it is sweet enough, but unfortunately, her eyes were bigger than her stomach.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I figure there's no sense replying to every entry, so just this one will have to do.

This is some pretty unlikable stuff. It's like you were watching a tv show that did an episode with a parody of a morning DJ where they showed some of the grating, awful, tired bits that he did day in and day out except that instead of getting the point you said 'That's Amazing!' and swiped the idea.

If this is a gag site, then I guess you got me - otherwise it's brownies made by your seven-year-old niece who doesn't yet know the difference between ingredients like baking soda and baking powder.